SIDELINES...

FISH FALL IN MEXICO

Civil defence officials in the state of Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico say a light rain on 26 September was accompanied by small fish that fell from the sky in the coastal city of Tampico. Photos posted online show four small fish in a bag and another on a sidewalk. Traditionally, the phenomenon is blamed on ‘waterspouts’. [AP] 28 Sept 2017.

FRINGE NOW MAINSTREAM

According to a survey by Chapman University in Orange, California, a majority (55%) of Americans now believe in Atlantis or another lost ancient super-civilisation, and 35% think space aliens visited ancient people in the past. These percentages have been growing year-on-year. Atlantis is now the single most popular fringe belief in the US, eclipsing astrology and ghosts for the first time. jasoncolavito.com/ blog, 14 Oct 2017.

I LIKE LIVING EAR

A doctor removed a live gecko from a man’s ear after the tiny lizard crawled inside as he slept in Guangzhou, China. D.Mirror, 19 Aug 2017.

ARMS AND THE MAN

A bus passenger was stopped when security staff found two severed arms in his luggage. The man said his brother had had them amputated after an accident and he was going to his village in southern China to bury them. Metro, 9 Aug 2017.